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Visit the 2007 BJP member pages, a gallery of completed work by members who have finished 8 or more pages.

"Ways of Seeing" by Robin Atkins

About the 2007 Bead Journal Project

We are 241 women and 1 man who are dedicated and committed to creating 12 bead journal pages, one per month, for a year, starting June 1, 2007. We live in 13 different countries, including 37 states in the USA. Our primary goal during this process, is to stretch our creative and technical limits. The BJP is all about visual journaling using any media and techniques, as long as it includes beading. We are free to structure our bead journal pages any way we want, as long as all 12 are the same size. Through this blog, we intend to support each other in process, techniques and design. Until September 1, 2007, we will not post pictures of our finished journal pages. Many of us have our own blogs or websites (links below) where we may post pictures sooner.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Tips, tips, we want your tips!

For our new website we are creating a Faqs page. One of the features will be bead embroidery tips.

What are your best tips? What have you learned about bead embroidery that you'd like to share? What do you bead on? What is your favorite thread and needle? How do you get your ideas? What would you do differently? What tip did someone share with you that made a difference in your beadwork?

10 comments:

My favorite tip was from Morwyn, she told how she colored her backing with colored markers. I have been doing it ever since. It really helps when you are adding black beads on a white cloth. If you color the cloth first all the spaces are not so glaringly obvious. Thanks Morwyn!

I bead on commercially prepared photo fabric that I print out of my computer ink jet printer. I find that this is quite perfect in terms of weight. I leave the paper backing on it while I bead, and then depending on the purpose of the block, I either leave it on permanently or remove the parts I can, to allow the fabric to be fabric. The brand of photo fabric prepared that I use is called "Ink Jet Printing" (you can choose cotton or silk and in different sizes) and it is by Jacquard. It is readily available from Dick Blick Art Supplies. It is cheaper than other brands, and I far prefer it! Some of the others are stiff when printed, or run when they get wet. I have been very pleased with this brand, and regularly use it in quilt dedications in my other life. As far as needles, I use the largest beading needle that will comfortably fit through the beads I am using, and still allow me to go back through at least twice. I use Nymo nylon thread, and have found that it is quite strong and easy to use.

Too many variables confuse me till I forget something and it glares out from my project so for simplicity's sake plus ease of use I bought 2 cones of nymo in white - size D and Size 0. That is all I have used for beading on my pages. I guess I beaded on very dark fabric I would buy a black cone but the white seems to have worked quite well so far. Even if it shows occasionally, it's the same color showing on all of my pieces so I don't really mind.

I have another one, as you can tell I have learned a lot!My next journal I am going to construct the journal first, then bead the pages. Even though my pages are all done (caught up) I still have the massive job of finishing each page, adding backing, making the cover, connecting all the pages. I don't think that is the fun part, the beading was the fun part. So next time I have all that done first, then I just bead and add in the pages!

Nymo thread on the cone is very different from the little spools. The spools fray a lot. The spools are designed to go through industrial sewing machines, so the thread is very smooth and very rarely frays.

I often really, really dislike a piece when I'm in the middle of working on it. Most of the time, I just keep going, knowing that the beads themselves are beautiful, and generally everything comes out okay. That being said, if you just can't stand it, go ahead and rip out and start over. You will feel all the better for it.

It is not cheating to color the thread or fabric that shows with markers. These little "mistakes" will just disappear!

I'm not sure how I get my ideas. Sometimes I just think of a theme I want to explore. Sometimes an idea will come to me as I'm beading. Keeping the month I'm working on in mind, and everything that happened in that month, has been helpful, too. In some way or other, those things that happened will work their way into the page.

I usually bead with Nymo B or D and a size 12 John James sharps needle. sometimes I will use Pony needles, size 11, if I need a longer needle. I like to bead on a fabric with a backing of acid free interleaving paper, but I also like Lacy's Stiff Stuff, which I paint on if I want a specific color background, or interfacing. Sometimes I will use a quilting or embroidery frame to support my fabric. Anything that will allow me to embroider with beads comfortably, that's what I like!

The best tip I've ever gotten, well... there are actually two of them: 1) Just Do It! 2) Pick a bead that you love and sew it down, then go from there. Together, these really help me get unstuck, or get started. Thanks, Robin!

If I could do anything differently, I think I would live a less stresssful and eventful life. However, life is life. I think next year I may work smaller, but I've discovered that the piece will find it's own appropriate size, regardless of my plans.

~ Blessings ~

This is just for us. This is our place and our time to let it all hang out, to let ourselves be carried away in the moment, to let go of judgments and interpretation and planning, to go deeper than words!